Down the Ribbon of Moonlight
by Thargelion
Summary: Seven 100-word drabbles, seven pairings, written for Caesar's Palace second shipping week. 2/14- President Snow/his wife.
1. With the Yellow Gold

**Written this morning for the second Caesar's Palace shipping week. Finnick/Annie, using the prompt 'serendipity'.**

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She wished Tristan would choose easier spots to hide. Annie crept through the dunes. "Tristan, come out!" she called. She was beginning to worry when she saw a glimpse of bronze hair in the reeds.

Annie grabbed Tristan's shoulders and cried, "Found you!"

"Who are you?" a stranger asked warily.

"Annie Cresta," she muttered. "I was playing hide-and-seek with my brother, and, well... What's your name?"

"Do you not know who I am?" he asked, which was a bit odd.

"No. Why?"

"You're one of the few," the boy said.

Confused, Annie backed away. "I should go."

"Finnick. Finnick Odair."


	2. Hollows of Madness

**Written on day two of the second Caesar's Palace shipping week. Cato/Katniss using the prompt 'divine'.**

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It was so ironic, his death. _Of all things, it has to be my armor that kills me!_ Festering old wounds were ripped open to make way for hot, gushing blood, a dye better than any of the garish colors of the Capitol.

Cato wondered if they had cameras watching him. He hoped they saw every bit of his blood and it made them sick._ Send me a guardian angel, not armor!_

Cato opened his eyes. And, miraculously, one had appeared. There an angel stood proudly, gleaming with light-

No, it was Katniss. Just Katniss. But she would suffice.

"Please."


	3. Under the Jewelled Sky

**Written for day three of the second Caesar's Palace shipping week. Haymitch/Effie using the prompt 'stained glass'. Also written for the Caesar's Palace monthly oneshot contest.**

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The great glass-maker, fate, was coloring a beautiful window. One color was green, the color of trees. The other color was a bright pink. These colors coexisted, and, over time, like how the sun's light breaks through stained glass, they began to blend into a beautiful, brilliant light.

He began to finish her sentences.

"Remember-" she would start.

"-to smile!" he would finish. She would make an offended noise, but the lipsticked corners of her mouth turned up in a secret smile of her own.

Later, pink lipstick stained the collar of his green suit. Light shone through the window.


	4. Before the Rise of the Moon

**Written for day four of the second Caesar's Palace shipping week. Beetee/Wiress, using the prompt 'infidelity'.**

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"Go on, say it," she said.

"I'm not sure we should be together," he said carefully. "I'm sorry, Wiress. This just feels... wrong."

"Why?" she asked.

"I've got someone else," he said. "I feel like I'm betraying them. I'm sorry, Wiress."

"Who is it?" she snapped. Her eyes sparked with electricity. Beetee's face broke into a grin. "My job," he said. He wrapped his arms around her. "My boss nearly fired me for spending too much time with you away from the shop ."

She was crying and laughing. "I hate you," she said. They both knew she didn't mean it.


	5. White Road Smoking

**Written for day five of the second Caesar's Palace shipping week. Johanna/Katniss, using the prompt 'verdant'. An AU in which they marry and adopt kids orphaned by the war.**

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"It was summer in the arena, and it was terrible. I was sunburnt and miserable. Katniss was prancing around happily,_ basking_ in my pain.

I just couldn't stand it. 'Will you shut up about how it's not so bad?' I asked. 'Because it is!' She looked much more shocked than I expected. I said, 'I wish I could just go to some beautiful, green meadow. On a mountain. With a nice, cool breeze.'

'I'd go with you,' she said. She paused before saying, 'It's hot as hell here.'"

_And, kids, that's how I met her._


	6. Hell at One Dark Window

**Written for day six of the second Caesar's Palace shipping week. Unnamed OC/Caesar Flickerman, using the prompt 'sinners'.**

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_Smile for the crowd. Oh, they'll love you!_

She knew there was something strange about the look in his eyes during her interviews.

_Congratulations on your victory! You'll have to pay me a visit._

She knew who her first buyer was when Snow mentioned she had met him already.

_Not an interview. Just you and I._

She knew that their love was like the love between a child and a toy.

_How much do you think someone would pay just to see you smile? How much they would pay for more?_

Another sinner in an ever-growing pile of discarded toys.


	7. All Was Locked and Barred

**Written for the final day of the second Caesar's Palace shipping week. President Snow/his wife, using the prompt 'm****ellifluous'.**

**Notes-**

**Every chapter title (and the title of this fic) was part of a line from a beautiful poem, 'The Highwayman' by Alfred Noyes. I recommend looking it up if you don't know it.**

**Thanks to those of you that read and reviewed! I really appreciate it.**

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There were some things Snow disliked about her, but the oddest was her aversion to the Hunger Games. It was a mystery to him; he had been raised on them.

One day, she ran out of excuses not to watch, and only a few minutes in, a tribute died. His head was smashed in with a mace, and it cracked. Like an eggshell. Snow laughed.

But she screamed. At him. It was the most beautiful sound he had heard. He could fall asleep every night to its music. That night he did.

For that, he almost regretted her death. Almost.


End file.
